A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem is a nice mix of thriller/mystery and romance. Katherine Bascomb is a widow who owns a newspaper and puts it to good use investigating and writing about crime from a woman's perspective. When she's invited to a country retreat at her friend's estate, she anticipates some fresh air and time to work on her next cookbook. When she stumbles across a dead body with all the marks of the Commandments killer who is on the loose, things take a different turn. Katherine convinces the lead investigator, Andrew Eversham, to let her investigate in parallel to him and, of course, they quickly discover what a team they make.

If the description sounds like a genre you enjoy, I think you'll enjoy this book. It wasn't my cup of tea but it was well executed for its genre. My only complaint was that I thought the ending was wrapped up with way too much speed after an entire book's worth of build up.

Thanks to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for this honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem is a mystery novel with some romance elements set in Victorian England. Our main character Lady Katherine Bascom is a young widow who owns a newspaper. She and her friend Caroline Hardcastle (or just Caro) decide to start a new column called "A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem" which would focus on topics that are traditionally off-limits to women. Their inaugural column would cover a string of murders in London by a so-called Commandments killer. As they start interviewing witnesses, the two ladies find themselves in the middle of the investigation.

This novel did have many of the elements that I usually enjoy in a book: a feisty heroine, a murder mystery, a period setting, etc. However, I would caution readers that the book is not strictly "of the time period". It is definitely written for the modern audience. In addition, the mystery aspect was not well developed. Lots of clues were discovered by chance. In fact, Lady Katherine just happened to travel to the Lake district at the same time that murders moved there from London, and she just happened to stay in the mansion tied to the killer.

Overall, it is an enjoyable enough novel, but I don't think I will be continuing with the series. I do think the author did a good job with the romance plot line but the mystery aspect was rather weak.

3 out of 5 stars. An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com

Finally a historical romantic mystery that actually is a romance!!!

It was. Delight to read this romantic mystery that starts as both a Scotland Yard detective and a newspaper columnist investigate the same serial killer.

Columnist Lady Bascomb quickly makes as enemy of detective Eversham when her interview of a missed witness and subsequent article soon ends up with the detective being removed from the case end the wrong man arrested!

These enemies are soon brought back together when Lady Bascomb discovers another murder victim at her friends house party. Instead of fighting each they decide to combine their skills and work together to find the true culprit! Mutual respect and admiration soon finds these unwilling partners surely connecting!

I loved the theme of women empowerment found throughout this book. Lady Bascomb was an independent woman and used her recourses to lift up other women . Detective Eversham may have disliked Lady Bascomb for publishing her interview without bringing him the new information first, but he always respected her work and abilities.

I noted that this was a true romance, and it is! Lady Bascomb and Detective Eversham find their HEA together and their relationship follows that of a traditional romance. As well, this series will not continue folioing these characters, but will following their friends as they mystery and romance evolve! I can’t wait for it!

This book provides both n intriguing mystery and a fun romance! A total double threat!

A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins is scheduled to release November 10th, 2020.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Forever Grand Central Publishing) through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#MischiefandMayhem #MandaCollins #Netgalley #pinkcowlandreads

Love the cover and I got the vibe that it was similar to Bringing Down the Duke with a mystery twist so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one. My audience loves books with strong female leads and I thought this might be a good contender for our virtual book club. Unfortunately, it fell flat. I hate leaving negative reviews and just because this book wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you. I never felt invested in the story and considered DNFing it multiple times. So sad! Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so much fun!

Part romcom, part murder mystery, all sparks and suspense and action!

I loved this adventurous story from start to finish. The characters are lively, entertaining, and so relatable. Lady Katherine is fun to watch, and Eversham is her perfect match. These two together were sizzling on every level and I loved watching them go head-to-head and toe-to-toe.

The mystery is solidly paced and makes a wonderful backdrop to the romance. The suspense is balanced with wit and humor and the heartwarming emotional connections just made the whole experience absolutely unforgettable. I highly recommend this delightful story. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

I feel like I was really duped by the synopsis. Maybe I should blame election anxiety for not being in the right headspace but this book was very underwhelming. The murder mystery aspect to the plot was rather dull and lacked thrill and intrigue. The romance aspect to the plot lacked chemistry and conflict. I believe this was set up as a enemies to lover trope and it fell flat. The only positive was the best friend character, Caro.

If you are wanting to read a good romance, skip this one. If you are wanting to read a good murder mystery, skip this one.

Manda Collin’s newest book A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem is an utter delight. A strong female protagonist with brains and beauty? A surly, determined detective from Scotland Yard? A cleverly crafted, excellently paced murder mystery? And romance on top of everything else?! YES, PLEASE.

I finished this book in less than 24 hours. Once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the colorful cast of characters, the awkward houseparty, the enemies to lovers trope--the whole book was just so much fun.

I will definitely be recommending this one to all my historical romance loving friends, but I don’t think you have to love romance to find something to love about this book. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

Thank you so much to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for my advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Simple and entertaining, though not much differentiates it from all of the other similarly titled period piece women's literature.

2.5 stars

I love that cover and the synopsis sounds like everything I could have ever wanted...sadly, I was disappointed.

I liked Katherine and Andrew. They’re both smart and maybe a bit sassy. I enjoyed their open communication and honesty. Caro was hands down the best part of the book. She’s absolutely delightful and I can’t wait to get more from her.

Plot wise, it was a bit dull. The murder mystery wasn’t a mystery to me and so I focused on the romance part. And yet, that wasn’t enough for me. Even though I liked the two MCs, I wasn’t really invested. As for the “mystery”, it’s a slow build up with a two page conflict/resolution combo.

Overall, I felt like I was already supposed to know these characters and that definitely took away from the enjoyment. If there really is another book with Caro, I’ll be reading it.

**Huge thanks to Forever for providing the arc free of charge**

4.5

Lady Katherine Bascomb is tired of women being pushed to the background due to their "sensitive personalities". When Katherine became widowed and took over her late husband's newspaper, she's been able to give women more of a voice with the articles she choses to write. But she still has a long haul ahead. When a slate of unsolved murders ravages London, Katherine sees it as her duty to keep the women in the city informed, especially since the investigators on the case aren't doing the job.

Katherine feels the full weight of guilt when her article leads to an innocent man's arrest, which becomes even more apparent when the killer strikes again.

Inspector Andrew Eversham has always taken pride in the job he does as a Detective. It's why his track record is impeccable. That is, until the Commandments Killer began ravaging through London. When Lady Katherine publishes her article, he's looked at as incompetent for his lack of progress and is thrown off the case. When he's sent to the countryside to investigate a murder at a house party, he's loathe to find Katherine among the guests.

While they may be at odds with one another, they both agree that the killer is still at large, and they'll discover that they have more to gain when they work together.

This has been one of my most highly anticipated reads since I first learned about it a few months ago. So, expectations were pretty high for this one. Happily, it really delivers in every aspect as a Historical Romance/Mystery.

I thought the differing viewpoints between Katherine (a journalist) and Eversham (a policeman) were very timely. The women's issues that Katherine is trying to shine a light upon are also very relevant today as so often our voices are not heard.

One of my only complaints about the book is that it took just a bit to long to find its legs, so to speak. We get quite a ways into the story before connections start being made and there's a clearer path of what's going on. But even still there were a few instances where things felt a bit too coincidental. Like things weren't built up enough for be to believe the way situations transpired. This revolves a lot around the mystery which is why I'm being rather vague here. Once the story really gets going and the pieces start falling better into place, I was hooked.

Of course the interactions between Katherine and Eversham fuel the story. I loved their animosity towards one another - although to be fair they're not complete enemies. They are two people with different viewpoints and different ideas about how to get things done. It was a joy to see them both on opposite sides as well as when they were aligned. This also creates delicious chemistry between the characters. I almost wish this was a series that followed the same main characters throughout numerous books because I could have read at least a couple of more with Katherine and Eversham each trying to outwit the other all while garner feeling for each other.

As it stands, however, it seems as though we will get a different couple in the next book, and they're already pretty much set up in this first book.

Another aspect of the story that I could have used more of is the friendship between Katherine and Miss Caroline Hardcastle (Caro). They are two like-minded women, Caro is even the co-author of the article Katherine write regarding the murders. I wish there could have been more interactions between this pair. I always feel like the friendships are just as important (maybe sometimes more important) as the romance and this is one I'm hoping we'll see explored more in the next book.

I'm happy that I book I was so looking forward to delivered in a great way and also gives me another series to add to my TBR!

First of all, thank you os much to the publisher for an eARC of this in exchange for an honest review!

Murder, mystery, historical romcom, how oculd I say no?! I was immediately pulledi n via the title and the cover, and I will say that overall I enjoyed this! In these stressful times, this was a nice relief and a brief pause on the crazy world out there!

I'm not 100% certain the writing style was for me, and I was a little sad to find out that most of the focus on the book was on the mystery rather than the romance. I did walk into this one expecting a bit more oomph, but I did still enjoy it! Overall a pretty decent read if you're on the look out for al ighter historical mystery with a dash of romance and dramatics!

I really enjoyed every second of this book. It was a nice balance of romance and mystery. The supporting characters were great too! Especially Val and Caro.

Lady Katherine Bascomb runs and writes for England's most notorious newspaper. With a serial killer on the loose, she decides to write a column targetted at society ladies to educated them about the crimes going on in the city and those committed against the fairer sex. She and her fellow columnist discover a lead the police overlooked and run the story, leading to the arrest of an innocent man. She flees the city to a friend's estate who is hosting a small gathering and while out walking the grounds comes upon a dead body.

Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham was the lead on the case until Lady Katherine's article was published resulting in his removal. His boss sends him out to investigate the murder that Lady Katherine discovered out in the woods. Seeing her in this environment shifts his perception of her. Now determined to keep her safe he agrees to with her as they zero in on the killer.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for these ARC for review

I will be honest and say I don't read many mysteries, and 95% of the romance I read is contemporary. That said, I've been warming to more regency romances lately and between the adorable cover and the intriguing description of this book, it was no-brainer to me. I thoroughly enjoyed it! It's sometimes difficult to read a story set in a time where women didn't have the rights they have the day, and I absolutely enjoyed the feminist main character Kate as well as her sidekick Caro (whose book comes next) who refused to be put in the corner and placated. The romance between Kate and Andrew was both sexy and sweet - he was a dream - and the mystery kept me guessing the entire time. I look forward to book two between Caro and Val because already their chemistry was sizzling!

In a nutshell: I yawned my way through this book 🥱

A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem is not the worst book I've ever read, but it's also not a very engaging or exciting book. Lady Katherine Bascomb is a widow who now runs her late husband's newspaper company and she has begun a new column detailing her own investigation into the Commandments serial killings. But when her article leads to the arrest of the killer, it almost ruins Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham's career in the process. And it just so happens that a person is killed at the house party that Katherine is attending, thus requiring the presence of Andrew as the lead investigator. So that's twice now that Katherine is involved in a murder investigation.

Conceptually-speaking, this book does not have the worst storyline ever; in fact, there are some pretty great tropes at play here. But the writing style leads to a bland and unexciting excecution. The blurb would lead you to believe that this is an intense enemies to lovers romance, but it actually isn't the case. Yes, the hero and heroine don't start off on the right foot. But they are actually pretty mature. After their first terrible encounter, they actually talk to each other and quickly understand each other's side of the story. And I actually liked that Katherine and Andrew talked to each other and came to an understanding. That being said, there is absolutely no chemistry between them. The build up of tension is as bland as the writing style.

I also feel like Katherine and Andrew did not truly know each other. Everything that we know about Katherine, we find out directly through her best friend, Val. Katherine herself never talks about her past or her family in detail. She barely even thinks about them, aside from constantly mentioning that she loves her freedom as a widow. Val is the one who tells the hero and the reader all about Katherine's past, which feels disingenuous because why should I get to know the heroine through stories that her best friend is telling me? As the reader, I should be connecting to the heroine on an emotional level, but the heroine distances herself from even the reader. As for Andrew, I feel like I know him a tiny bit better than I know Katherine. But even in his case, we are finding out important information about his past at the 85% mark, which is just ridiculous. That's poor characterization.

Furthermore, we are told that Caro and Katherine have only known each other for over a month, and yet, they are best friends who know every single thing about each other. It was so strange; it almost felt as if Caro was a childhood friend instead. And speaking of Caro, she and Val had much better chemistry than Katherine and Andrew. I also, for the life of me, could not understand why Katherine was pissed at Andrew when she is the one who kept compromising his investigation? I understand that she does not like it when he orders her around, but why does she think she is entitled to take over his official police investigation? Make it make sense.

As for the murder plot, it is quite dull even though the mystery takes place at a house party. In theory, the concept of this book sounds exciting, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. To be quite frank, I think it's the writing style that didn't do it for me. Manda Collins is a good writer, but I just don't think that her writing style lends itself to the kind of story she was trying to tell here. Of course, I could be completely wrong in my interpretation, given that this is the first book I've read by this author. Who knows? But the execution of this book just didn't work for me, unfortunately

This is a very well written novel that I really enjoyed. It had just the right amount of romance and mystery to keep the reader interested until the very end. The characters were all interesting and very easy to relate to. Highly recommend and can’t wait to read more from this author!

Lady Katherine is a newspaper owner with a moral duty to inform the public about of the details of grisly murders happening all over London. Her investigative skills lead to a description of the murder, which the police failed to uncover. However, in their rush to arrest someone to ease the panic of London's citizens, they may have arrested the wrong man. Detective Inspector Eversham is methodical in his efforts to solve crimes and wants to get it right the first time. However, when a serial killer on the loose in London and no usable leads, he's floundering to make connects between the victims and find the killer. When Lady Katherine's article hits the newsstands, Everham's superiors remove him from the case. Licking his wounds and feeling rather angry with Lady Katherine, he is surprised to find himself face to face with her when she discovers another possible victim of the London serial killer at a country house party. Determined to show Eversham she can be useful in this investigation, she convinces Eversham to allow her to assist with this investigation to find the real serial killer and free the poor man the police have imprisoned in London.
If you enjoy Sherry Thomas' Lady Sherlock series or Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell series, you may enjoy this book. However, the characters in this series don't quite have the depth as Thomas or Speedwell characters and the mystery element is fairly elementary.

As the owner of the Gazette, widow Lady Katherine Bascomb is sick of men deciding what knowledge is appropriate for women to know. When yet another man tells her she is too delicate to hear about the murders being done by someone the papers are calling the “Commandments Killer” Kate decides to use her position and her paper to educate the women of London. She recruits Caroline Hardcastle and they set out to get some questions about the murders answered. They interview a witness that the police never spoke to and get a lead to the killer – it is a huge break in the case that shakes up Scotland Yard.

Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham has been working on the Commandments case for months and is angry that the reporter from the Gazette released information about the killer without telling the police and that the man he assigned to interview witnesses, missed the chophouse serving girl. His superiors pull him off the case and his replacement – the man who was supposed to interview witnesses – makes an arrest of a man named John Clark. Andrew doesn’t believe they have the right man, but has no recourse. When he meets Katherine at a press conference and helps her navigate the crowd, he takes the opportunity to chastise her for her recklessness and says the wrong man is going to hang because of her. They part ways and neither expects to see the other again.

But fate and the killer are not done with these two, appalled that she may be responsible for sending an innocent man to jail, she attends a house party of her dear friend Lord Valentine Thorn, hoping to have him appeal to his father the Duke of Thornfield to intercede and have John Clark released. But while at the party the killer strikes again and Andrew is sent to investigate. He and Kate come to an agreement, they will work together to find the killer and clear John Clark. But nothing can prepare them for the twists and turns in the or for the attraction between them they can’t ignore. Will they be able to solve the murders and have their own HEA or will the Commandments Killer claim another victim.

I thought this was a well written, intriguing story with a really well-done mystery – but as a romance, it was a little lacking. Andrew and Kate don’t really begin to interact until well into the book and even then, the romance seems to take a backseat to the mystery. If this was billed as an historical mystery, I would give it 4.5 – the proof I received was marked as an UNCORRECTED copy, so I will assume that the typos, title errors and inconsistencies – including the mention of Oscar Wilde in a book set in 1865 – will be addressed prior to publication. As a romance it is more of a 3.5 star book, so I decided to split the difference. It is an excellent mystery with some romance, some steamyish love scenes, more than one twist, a couple of eye-popping revelations, great secondary characters, witty banter, a strong heroine and a great hero. I enjoyed the book and will happily recommend this title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an uncorrected eARC that I requested and was provided by NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.*

There’s a killer on the loose and Lady Katherine’s newspaper column leads to Detective Eversham’s demotion from the case. Thinking the killer has been caught, Kate goes to a country house party only to discover another dead body. Eversham follows, believing the wrong man is behind bars. The two investigate, not always amicably! Their attraction to each other grows as the body count rises. Kate, a widow, has no desire to marry again. How the two come to understand each other is very well done. A fun, romantic mystery.

A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem is a historical mystery and romance mash-up by a new to me author Manda Collins. In this book, Lady Catherine Bascomb, an owner of a London newspaper, clashes with Scotland Yard inspector Andrew Eversham, who leads an investigation of a series of murders terrorizing the capital. An article written by Lady Catherine leads to the arrest of an innocent man and a demotion for the inspector Eversham. When Lady Catherine becomes a witness in another murder, he is determined to prevent her from interfering in another investigation.

I loved Catherine and Andrew's chemistry and their animosity-to-love relationship. Their romance is also fraught by the class difference. It is scandalous for a Lady to be with a working-class man, even if he is a gentleman like Eversham. I must say, I liked the romance sub-plot more than the murder plot. I found the final confrontation with the murderer a little underwhelming. Overall, I enjoyed A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem and would recommend it to romance and murder-mystery readers!

This sounded like my cup of tea when I read the book blurb - historical mystery that almost sounds like a cozy with a romance that doesn’t seem to be the focus. I overall liked the book quite a bit with just a few things that didn’t come together for me.

Lady Kate Bascomb is a widow who writes for the newspaper that she owns. In one of her articles, she seems implicates an innocent man and gets the attention (and ire) of Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham. When the murders continue and Kate becomes a witness, she and Andrew reluctantly work together to solve the case.

I liked the mystery aspect - it was fairly simplistic but there was a plot twist thrown in (that I won’t spoil) that was a bit of a surprise for me. But the murder mystery kept me intrigued to the end of the book.

My biggest issue with this book is the relationships. I felt the relationship between Kate and Andrew was one dimensional - physical attraction. I didn’t get the sense throughout the book that they got to really know each other. Kate’s friendship with Caroline, who also writes columns, seems a bit uneven as well with Kate dominating it. I did like Caro though so I would be interested in reading the next book, since it seems to be Caro and Val’s book.

Overall, this worked better as a historical mystery.